How AI video clipping works
An AI video clipper turns a long video into short vertical clips. It transcribes every word, scores each moment for hook, payoff and pacing, cuts the best ones on word boundaries, reframes them to 9:16 around whoever is speaking and adds animated captions. In shitShorts every clip then opens as an editable project, so nothing is locked in
Free plan: about 15 clips a month (300 credits) · no card needed
By the shitShorts team · Published · We make shitShorts, one of the tools mentioned here
Step by step
- 01
Transcribe
Every word is transcribed with its timing, so cuts can land between words
- 02
Score the moments
Overlapping windows are scored for hook, payoff, pacing and whether they stand alone
- 03
Critique
A second, stricter pass drops picks that only make sense with the rest of the video
- 04
Reframe to 9:16
The crop follows the active speaker, splits into tiles for two people, or follows the action
- 05
Caption
Word-timed animated captions in your theme, placed clear of the platform buttons
What an AI video clipper does
Paste a YouTube link or upload a podcast, interview, stream or match. The AI clipper transcribes every word, scores each moment for hook, payoff and pacing, cuts the best ones, reframes them to 9:16 around whoever is speaking and adds animated captions
Every clip opens as an editable project in the browser Studio. You can trim a cut, fix a misheard name, change the layout or the caption theme, then export an MP4 or schedule it
Clipping tools for each kind of video
AI video clipper for long videos. Drop in a podcast, interview, stream or match and get vertical clips that are already reframed, captioned and ranked by how likely they are to hold attention
Turn a YouTube video into Shorts. Paste the link, pick how many clips you want, and get 9:16 Shorts that are cut on real moments, reframed around the speaker and captioned word by word
Podcast clips that follow whoever is talking. Two or three people at a table, one camera wide: the clipper works out who is speaking at every moment and cuts the vertical frame to them, with captions and a hook on top
Reframe landscape video to vertical, automatically. Turn 16:9 into 9:16 without keyframing a single crop. The frame follows faces, the active speaker or the ball, and cuts cleanly when the subject changes
Sports highlights, cut vertical and kept on the ball. The clipper watches for crowd noise, celebrations and commentary peaks, then frames each highlight on the play with object tracking instead of a fixed centre crop
Long video to Shorts, with AI doing the watching. Upload a recording or paste a YouTube link. The AI reads the whole thing, picks the moments that stand on their own, and hands back vertical clips with captions and a speaker-following crop
Podcast to Shorts: one episode, a week of clips. Upload the episode or paste its YouTube link and get vertical clips of the best moments, cut on clean lines, framed on whoever is speaking and captioned for sound-off viewing
Interview clips that frame whoever is answering. Upload an interview or paste a YouTube link. The AI finds the answers that work without the question, cuts them to 9:16 on the right person and captions every word
Turn a webinar recording into short clips. An hour of webinar has five or six moments worth sharing. Upload the recording and the AI finds them, frames the speaker in 9:16 and captions every word for sound-off feeds
Twitch clip maker: stream VODs into vertical clips. Upload a stream VOD and the AI finds the hype moments, reactions and best lines, then cuts vertical clips with captions for TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Reels
TikTok clip maker for long videos. Paste a YouTube link or upload a recording and get TikTok-ready clips: hook first, cut on clean lines, framed on the speaker and captioned for the For You feed
Make Instagram Reels from a long video. Upload a long video or paste a YouTube link and get Reels: the best moments, cropped to 9:16 around whoever is talking, with captions that sit clear of Instagram's buttons
Editing the clips
Voice, music and captions share one timeline. Captions are timed from the audio and trims snap to words, so a tightened cut never clips a syllable. Exports go up to 4K and never cost credits, and finished clips can be scheduled to eight networks
What it costs
The free plan includes 300 credits a month, about 15 clips, with 720p exports and a small watermark. The Clipper plan at $10 a month gives 1,000 credits, about 50 clips, at 1080p with no watermark and 300 clip exports a month. A failed run is refunded automatically, and editing and previews never cost credits
Compare AI clippers
- shitShorts vs OpusClip
- shitShorts vs Submagic
- shitShorts vs Captions
- shitShorts vs ChopCast
- shitShorts vs Klap
- shitShorts vs Munch
- shitShorts vs 2short.ai
- shitShorts vs OpenShorts
- shitShorts vs Vizard
- shitShorts vs Riverside Magic Clips
- shitShorts vs Descript
- shitShorts vs CapCut
- shitShorts vs ClipPod
- shitShorts vs LunarClip
- shitShorts vs SendShort
- shitShorts vs Quso
- shitShorts vs StoryShort
Questions people ask
Updated October 2026
What's the best free AI video clipper?
Do I own what I make?
Can I bring a YouTube link instead of uploading?
Which platforms can I schedule to?
How does Claude fit in?
Is there a free plan?
Tools for this
- ClippingAI video clipper for long videos
- ClippingTurn a YouTube video into Shorts
- ClippingPodcast clips that follow whoever is talking
- ClippingReframe landscape video to vertical, automatically
- ClippingSports highlights, cut vertical and kept on the ball
- ClippingLong video to Shorts, with AI doing the watching
- ClippingPodcast to Shorts: one episode, a week of clips
- ClippingInterview clips that frame whoever is answering
- ClippingTurn a webinar recording into short clips
- ClippingTwitch clip maker: stream VODs into vertical clips
- ClippingTikTok clip maker for long videos
- ClippingMake Instagram Reels from a long video